Gourami Community Problem?

[scriabin]

Hi Everyone -
 
I'm just getting back into the hobby after years away.
I was at the store today and decided to bring home 2 blue gouramis and 2 pearl gouramis to add to a 30 gallon tank that is otherwise inhabited by Kuhli loaches.
 
The store attendant assured me the gouramis would get along ... but so far the male blue gourami is chasing the female blue gourami mercilessly ... there is a little back and forth between the 2 pearls and the male blue (they chase him back a bit) .... but watching him chase the female blue is really starting to bother me. 
 
Any chance they will just settle down in the next few days as they adjust?
 
If not, will adding MORE gouramis to the tank make for less aggressive behavior? (they certainly weren't chasing each other at the tropical fish store!)  I figure if there were one or two more blue females, at least the one I have now would not be so consistently bullied?
 
Or is the only option to find a new home for the aggressive male?
 
Any advice would be appreciated...

 

[Byron]

Unfortunately the store gave you very inaccurate advice.  Gourami are much like cichlids, in that males are territorial.  In some species this is fairly mild (though certain fish can behave outside the norm for any species) while in others it can be very aggressive.  The Blue Gourami, Trichopodus trichopterus, is one of the more aggressive gourami species, while the Pearl (Trichopodus leerii) is generally much less so.  But males of either will still be territorial, and that means other gourami males may not be tolerated in the same space.  And "space" to gourami is similar to that for cichlids, involving the whole tank most times.  The other thing about the Blue is that females sometimes get very nasty too; other members have reported a female killing other female gouramis.
 
A 30g tank is certainly insufficient space for both gourami species, and of the two, I would recommend you return the Blue and retain the Pearls.  It will be easier in the long run, and make finding other community fish easier.  Many of the rasbora make good tankmates for Pearls.
 
With respect to the Pearls, it is best to have either a pair (male/female), or a group of one male and 2-3 females.  In a 30g I would not have more, and certainly only one male.
 
Byron.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Agree wit Byron.